Coel might have outdone herself with 'Buffalo Bill'

From 1995 through 2007, fans of Boulder's Margaret Coel's New York Times-bestselling Wind River mystery series could count on reconnecting with Father John O'Malley and Arapaho Indian attorney Vicky Holden once a year. Like clockwork.

So when Coel launched a new series in 2008 (featuring Denver journalist Catherine McLeod), fans suddenly found themselves having to wait as long as two years to see what's cooking on the reservation.

In the case of Coel's latest Wind River mystery, "Buffalo Bill's Dead Now," the long(er) wait is over. And it was well worth it.

The novel starts with happy news. Relics, artifacts and regalia from the famed Arapaho Chief Black Heart have been recovered and donated to the Arapaho Museum by Trevor Pratt, a former Indian antiquities thief and trafficker with a guilty conscience. The priceless items had gone missing in 1890 when Black Heart, performing with Buffalo Bill Cody's famous Wild West shows in Germany, returned to the United States to fight off accusations that "BB" mistreated the Indians in his employ.

Pratt says he has paid a pretty penny for the long-lost items and wants only to give them back to the tribe in penance.

Advertisement

At the same time, a long feud continues between two Wind River families over what happened in 1890. Despite the great chief's refusal to blame his foster son, Sonny Yellow Robe, Black Heart's family believes the younger Indian peddled the artifacts and disappeared to live a life of ill-gotten ease in Europe.

When the boxes arrive at the museum empty of their precious cargo, Father John and Vicky suspect Pratt might not have left behind his wily criminal ways, especially when they learn he had insured the Arapaho relics for a million bucks. But when they go to confront him, they find Pratt shot to death on his ranch. Eldon White Elk, director of the museum, soon goes missing, and the sleuths suspect he's been kidnapped or killed by the thieves.

A case of dishonor among thieves? Who were the mysterious white men seen fleeing Pratt's ranch after his murder? Could an Arapaho be so craven as to sell the tribe's heritage?

Coel's careful misdirection ensures the resolution will come as a satisfying, plausible surprise to most readers.

Father John and Vicky spend much of the novel together, where Coel typically sends them down different paths that eventually converge. The choice is clearly intentional, allowing Coel to explore their subtle, complicated feelings toward one another and lead Father John and Vicky to a place that might shock or delight longtime fans. Maybe both.

Moving the action off the rez hasn't always worked in the series, but the Wild West scenes in 1890 Germany are pitch perfect, allowing Coel to take some daring stands. Although Yellow Robe did not really exist, and Black Heart -- who did -- never lost his regalia, there was in fact a group of American "reformers" claiming that Buffalo Bill was mistreating Indians. Some claimed, tellingly, that the Wild West was encouraging "savages" when they should be busy getting civilized. Incredibly, the federal government at the time had the power to force Indians to return to the United States.

Through modern, politically correct eyes, the Wild West no doubt smells like exploitation. But at the time, Black Heart and others testified that Cody gave them a good living and treated them well. In the novel, Coel takes that a step further, portraying the show as giving them back some of their old ways and dignity.

At one point Black Heart says, " 'What brave deeds are left to us warriors now? What danger do we face?' The great chief then gives a small bark of laughter that sounded as if he were stifling a sob."

For Yellow Robe, BB's show is "Like the Old Time . . . before the people were herded onto patches of their own lands that the government reserved for them."

Coel also throws in sharp little grace notes about how the lives of most Americans today also have been unalterably changed: "Oh, the internet," one character says drily. "I keep forgetting about that monstrous intrusion into our lives."

And if there is a little less of Coel's other "protagonist," the sweeping landscape of the reservation, than usual, she can surely be forgiven. Because "Buffalo Bill's Dead Now" might well be the most balanced, complex and daring novel in a long, beloved and ever-evolving series.

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story